Greater East Asian Confederation
The Imperial Union, officially the Greater East Asian Confederation, is a Political, Economic, and Military Union of 5 member states under the permanent presidency of the Chinese Empire. The Imperial Union has developed a single internal market and Hukou system. The Confederation aims to guarantee a centralized system through whom the movement of people, goods, services and capital can occur, and enact common policies on trade and immigration (both internal and external). And at 19,000,000 kilometers, it is the largest state in the world, ahead of Russia. The Imperial Union and Imperial Citizenship was established in 1943 after a decisive Chinese victory in the Asian theater of the Second World War. Emperor Xuantong reasoned that the Sino-Japanese wars were caused by misunderstanding between the Asian powers on their hierarchical positions. Thus, to better clarify this hierarchy and in the hopes of ending any future incursions, the Union was proposed and signed at Shanghai in what became known as the Treaty of Shanghai. Containing over 20% of the world's population and about 50% of its GDP (PPP), the Greater East Asian Confederation is considered the economic and cultural center of the world. The Empire's two biggest members, China and Koreo-Japan, both rank very highly on the human rights index and have the highest average tertiary education rate at 60%, while developing members have seen their living standards soar in recent years. Deferred Powers The Confederation is deferred absolute authority over laws of trade, immigration (including Hukou), and the national currency, the Imperial Renminbi. Decisions relating to these endeavors are decided by the Commission. Per the Treaty of Tokyo, the member nations have agreed to adopt Cantonese as the working language; the law states that all public signs and all business dealings must include a version in both Cantonese and the member state's language(s). As part of the Confederation Constitution, member states entrust their protection to the permanent president of the confederation, China; members do not field their own military. Instead, they allow the construction of Chinese military bases on their soil, and pay a defense tax. China, using these resources, fields the Imperial Military in their unified defense. Portions of the army are occasionally delegated to member states as Autonomous Command Units--they are under the control of each states' Defense Minister, but officially remain Chinese troops and can be returned to Chinese control at a moments notice. Furthermore non-president members can only declare defensive wars and are prohibited from signing any treaties with other nations related to military affairs. With the majority of defense duties covered by the Chinese, the Defense Ministers of the protectorates primarily oversee the Royal Family's personal Imperial Guard, and the Dragon Party's state militia. Government The Greater East Asian Confederation is a union of monarchies under a one-party state. The union constitution states that the union derives is power from the blessings of each Emperor and that it seeks to achieve Pan-Asianism. Government The Greater East Asian Confederation fulfills its legislative and executive duties through two main organizations: * The Dragon Party Internationale * The Confederation Commission The Greater East Asian Confederation is a loose confederation of states all governed by the various branches of the Dragon Party Internationale, whom serves as the institution of all executive, judicial, control, and examination branches within the member countries. The Confederation Commission serves as the unicameral legislature of the confederation. Members are each allocated a set number of seats (but must vote as a bloc and as requested by their national government), with the Permanent President, China, holding 8 seats. The Commission has the ultimate say in all decisions that fall under the concern of the confederation. The Chairman of the Commission, whom is also Foreign Minister of China, chairs this organization and shares executive power with the Grand Secretariat. The Dragon Party Internationale serves as the ruling party of all member states. Its top leadership shares executive power with each member states' Chancellor. The Grand Secretariat is also by default General Secretary of the Dragon Party of China. In addition, top leadership of the party is appointed by the monarch of the President nation, the Emperor of China. Nationalism The people of the Greater East Asian Confederation are united under what many describe as "civilization nationalism". The members of the confederation promote the idea of Pan-East Asian Unity and emphasize the principle coined first by Xuantong, "Many people, one civilization"; the idea argues that the East Asian peoples, despite their differences, all originated from the same beginnings of civilization and all follow Confucius ideas. It is emphasized that one should be both nationalistic towards their home nation as well as their greater civilization and cultural group. Economy The Confederation is comprised of Agricultural, Industrial, and Urbanized Regions. The majority of the population is concentrated in the Urbanized Regions whom are also the largest contributors to the economy.